10 Most Notorious Leaders In History

In this article, we have compiled the names of those personalities who have not made history by doing something beneficial for humanity but they have become famous for torturing, killing and terrorizing the mankind. You must have heard about all these personalities mentioned here, but you may not know that what actually they have done that have made them notorious. We have listed the leaders from bad to worse. So, let’s see that how worst it can be when the power is handed over to the wrong people. This is a list of people whom we actually love to hate!

Josef Stalin

Many of us think that Hitler is the worst leader in the history. You may not believe it but Josef Stalin was actually worse than Hitler. He was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953, the period during which Ukraine suffered from a widespread famine. The real cause of this famine was a political and administrative decision rather than by some economic crisis which is considered to be an act of genocide on the part of the government. In addition to that, he also ordered that anyone who is considered as an enemy of the state can be executed. During his rule, about 10 to 60 million people lost their lives.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazis. He was a German dictator who was responsible for the Holocaust during the Second World War. In Holocaust over 14 million people, which included 6 million Jews were put to death through mass gassing, starvation and exhaustion and disease resulting from slave labor. In order to shoot the Jews in masses, the death squads were also formed. Apart from the Jews, homosexuals, gypsies and hippies were also targeted during the Holocaust. The reign of terror ended when Hitler died in 1945. He committed suicide by shooting himself while at the same time he had also bitten a cyanide capsule.

Vlad Tepes

This famous prince found a great pleasure in torturing and killing people. You all must have heard about ‘Dracula.’ This famous character is inspired by the evil prince of Wallachia, Romania. He has used many different techniques for torturing the people like burning, boiling, cutting off the limbs, mutilating sexual organs, driving nails in head and skinning etc. One of his most favorite methods due to which he is known as ‘Vlad the Impaler’ was impalement. He has ruled over the empire from 1448 to 1476. In this tie period, he has lost and regained power three times.

Ivan IV of Russia

He was the first ruler of Russia who gained the title of Tsar in 1547. Due to his cruelty, he is also known as ‘Ivan the Terrible.’ He made the inhabitants of the city of Novgorod prisoners by constructing a wall around the city. So, the people became prisoners in their own city. He thought that the chiefs of Novgorod were going to attack Poland so he built a wall around the whole city. This is not the end of his brutality. On daily basis, about 500 to 1000 people were gathered from the city and were tortured and killed in front of him and his son. He physically abused his daughter-in-law for dressing up immodestly, due to which the woman had a miscarriage. Moreover, he was also responsible for the death of his son as he accidentally struck him with a pointed staff during the argument that occurred after the miscarriage of his daughter-in-law. In 1584, the vicious leader died while playing chess and is said to have been poisoned.

Pol Pot

Have you ever thought that your life can be in great danger by wearing spectacles? Yes it happened in history! Under the rule of Pol Pot, the life of people in Combodia was at cost if they wore spectacles. This leader belonged to the political party ‘Khmer Rouge’ and ruled Cambodia as Prime minister from 1976-1979. In the time period of these three years, his government claimed up to 3 million deaths! He was a communist so he wanted a communist future for Cambodia. Hence, the people like Buddhist monks, Western-educated intellectuals, educated people in general, people who had contact with Western countries, people who appeared to be intelligent (for example, individuals with glasses), the crippled and lame, and ethnic minorities became victims of his brutality. He had formed special killing fields for mass execution of these people. Many people also died due to forced labor, starvation and disease. During his rule, about 1/3 of the people living in Combodia died and he almost destroyed the country’s culture.

Idi Amin Dada

Idi Amin Dada was a cruel leader who came as a curse upon the people of Uganda. He took over the charge of the country in 1971 in a military coup. He turned himself from a military officer to the President. He has got a simple solution for eradicating the tribalism in Uganda; murder the tribes. Over many years, Ugandans would disappear in the thousands, their mutilated bodies washing up on the shores of Lake Victoria. Apart from being a murderer, he was also a cannibal, and the worst thing is that he was proud of it! His dictatorship lasted till 1979. His reign has taken 100,000 to 300,000 lives for which he never showed any regret. He himself died in a coma in 2003.

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan formed one of the greatest empires in the world, but this achievement has not made him a great leader. Genghis Khan was the leader of the Mongol Empire. He was infamous for his ruthless massacres of the defeated populations and he loved to see other people in grief and sorrow. He has been endorsed with the following quote which is enough to describe his personality full of viciousness:

Happiness lies in conquering one’s enemies, in driving them in front of oneself, in taking their property, in savoring their despair, in outraging their wives and daughters.

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein has ruled Iraq with an Iron fist from 1979 till 2003. He was also known as the Hitler of modern day. He was notorious for using chemical weapons in war against Iran, invading Kuwait in the Gulf War and destroying all its oil fields. Moreover, he was also infamous for torturing and killing people on his human shredder. He was hanged on 30th Dec 2006.

Emperor Hirohito of Japan

“Rape of Nanking” is the first thing that pops in our mid when Japanese involvement in World War II is mentioned.“Rape of Nanking” is a name given to a six week massacre of Chinese civilians by Japanese troops. This six week bloodshed has taken about 300,000 lives. Around 20,000 women who were between the ages 8 to 70 were raped before being put to death. Even the pregnant women weren’t out of danger. Hirohito is the man who is responsible for this atrocity. He was the emperor of Japan who sent his troops to the city of Nanking. Later on, he denied the fact and said that he had nothing to do with the Nanking Massacre, but this has been proven wrong with time. Even the historians label him as the mastermind behind WW II.

Attila the Hun

Attila who was the leader of the Huns is still considered the perfect example of barbarism and savagery even after 1500 years of his death. He invaded Western Europe and executed all those who came in his way. One of the most famous methods of torture that he used was tearing the victims apart by their limbs. He was also known as ‘Scourge of God’ by the Romans, after he almost destroyed their whole empire.